A.t.M. Masood Reza, Associate Professor, Architecture Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna.

special places that are outside yet almost inside, open to sky, usually in contact with the earth, but surrounded by rooms.11.Reynolds, John. Courtyards: Aesthetic, Social and Thermal Delight.2002. New York: John Wiley2. Sullivan, Chip. 2002. Garden and Climate. New York: McGraw-Hill.Courtyards have been most popular in residential architecture all over the world and in all climatic regions.Courtyard:Regardless of geographic barriers, religious-cultural traditions and political differences, the courtyard form has emerged in all the civilizations of the world. Geographically, spread mainly in North Africa, Mesoamerica, the Middle East, and periphery regions (Mediterranean: Spain, Greece etc.), India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Iran as the predominant form in indigenous architecture with hot-dry, moderate and/or warm humid climates.

Air, light, privacy, security, and tranquilityare properties nearly universally desired behind the courtyardThe earliest form of courtyard architecture has either evolved from the encampments of the nomadic tribes or the fenced compound dwellings of the first agrarian communities.2Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, NM

HISTORIC EVOLUTION OF COURTYARD FORMKahun, in Egypt: that are believed to be 5000 years old,Ur, 2000 BC two-story houses constructed around an open square were built of fired brick. Kitchen, working, and public spaces were located on the ground floor, with private rooms located upstairs.The dwellings of the four ancient urban civilizations of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Egypt and China, along with the dwellings of the Classical Greek and Roman periods, all bear evidence to the fact that the courtyard form is rather timeless in the history of architecture.

DOUARS in North Africa, The encampments of nomadic tribes in West Africa,the Kraals of Bechuanaland in South Africathe Noualas, the rectangular compound dwellings of Morocco transition between the primitive douars and the later conventional court-houses.Kraals of BechuanalandDOUARSNoualasAfrican cave living

Houses of Upper VoltaCompound at TangassokoLela house in Poa village

Egyptian Courtyard houseFarm HouseElite Peoples house

Indus Valley courtyard house

several individual houses around a square.

Each house belongs to a different family member, and additional houses are created behind this arrangement to accommodate additional family members as needed.

The Chinese courtyard is a place of privacy and tranquility, almost always incorporating a garden and water feature. Strangers would be received in the outermost courtyard, with the innermost ones being reserved for close friends and family members.concept of yin and yang is reflectedin planning. the north-south orientation following a strictly axial kind, symmetrically disposed in all-embracing harmonyChinese courtyard house: siheyuan

Subterranean house (with court)

The Shintoist and Buddhist reverence for Mother Nature has been judiciously expressed inthe Japanese dwelling design

Great importance to the landscape architecture of their court houses.Japanese dwelling

Courtyard houses in Malay PeninsulaSome Similar to the ChinesePrivate interior open space between core house & kitchen.IndonesiaMalaysia

Balinese house (kuren) a family or a number of related families living within one enclosure, praying at a common family temple, with one gate and one kitchen.

The square plot (pekarangan)

Entirely surrounded by a wall of whitewashed mud, protected from rain erosion by a crude roofing of thatch.Hindus manuscript called Lontar Asta Kosala Kosali is the chief guide to build a proper Balinese house1. Family Temple: called Sanggah or Merajan, 2. Sleeping3. West Pavilion: or Bale dauh, is the workhouse4. Ceremonial Pavilion: The east pavilion, or bale dangin5. Sakenam: The guest pavilion for relatives and children6. Granary : Or the lumbung or jineng7. Kitchen Or paon: is in the south8. Protective Wall: Or aling-aling, Courtyard houses in Bali

Allow low winter sun in the courtyard, while blocking the high summer sun angles by the overhanging eaves on the porticoGREEK HOUSE evolved from the more primitive megaronPeristyle houseAt DelosAt PrieneAt Lindos

Greek house at Delos

Roman HouseDomusinspired by the light and airiness of Greek peristyle houses and the atrium houses of the Etruscans. Roman house with two interior courts, the peristylum and atriumUsually one-storey high, and that all rooms were lit by relatively small openings facing the interiorLight from the entrance and from the center atrium. Roman atrium often contained a central pool used to collect rainwater, called an impluvium. peristylum

1 Atrium 2 Peristylium 3 Vestibulum4 Fauces 5 Impluvium6 Ala 7 Triclinium8 Tablinum 9 Exhedra/Oecus10 Taberna 11 Cubiculum12 Andron 13 Posticum14 Bathroom 15 Cucina (kitchenVestibulum Fauces | Atrium | Ala | Tablinum | Peristylium

Roman insula, or apartment house.Renassaince palazzoCity Residences The apartment-house called as insulae

Courtyard houses in the Middle East reflect the nomadic influences.

Instead of designating rooms for cooking, sleeping, etc., these activities were relocated throughout the year as appropriate to accommodate the changes in temperature and the location of the sun.

Often the flat rooftops of these structures were used for sleeping in warm weather. In some Islamic cultures, private courtyards provide the only outdoor space for women to relax unobserved.

adding a cellar below the level of the courtyard called the serdab.Dar: a house with a courtyard, Two salons (beit, pl. biyout)

The salons around the courtyard (wust-i-dar) are narrow and with very high ceilings

a fountain (saqaiya) made of zellij (zellige)

a bartal (room without doors, open to the courtyard, for entertaining guests) opposite the fountain,

Sometimes there is a marble fountain (khassa), instead of a saqaiya, in the center of the courtyard.Other kinds of Houses:Dwira: a small house with only one and a small courtyard .

Riad: a house with a garden in the center, usually with orange and lemon

Massreiya: a guest house, On the ground floor there would usually be a stable or shop

Kasr: a palace or very large house.

SahnThe sahn is used as a private garden for the family, a service yard during the day and in the summer it would be used as a family room.

Usually the entrance of the house does not lead to the sahn directly, lead to the sahn through corridor called a majaz

allowed the residents to open the main door and allow guests into the reception room, called the majlis.

Sitting area in the mashrabiyya at Al-Suheine Houseusually surrounded by a colonnade, and has a howz, or pool of water, in the middle.

The iwan, which is a family room with only three walls, usually overlooks the sahn,

courtyard houses in Meknes,MoroccoCourtyard house in Sisaya,Murcia, SpainIranian courtyard showing bothinterior and exterior shenashilCourtyard houses in Baghdadshowing (a) the orientation onMecca and (b) the zoning into public and private areasDar Sfar in Tunis

The medieval European farmhouse was a courtyard housefour buildings arranged around a square courtyard

An elevated walkway frequently ran around two or threeMIDDLE AGES (EUROPIAN) only traces of courtyard houses were foundin Italian cortile houses and monastic cloisters.Slovakian Farm house

RENAISSANCEBrunelleschi, Manetti andMichelangelo designed bold and charming courtyardsQuadrangleA space or courtyard, usually rectangular (square or oblong) in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building.

Spanish 2 dwelling types in Spain inspired by theRoman atrium houses. In Northern Spain the houses were more solid. And the climate in Southern areas favored outdoor activityPatio housesEntered through a monumental doorway, leading into a passageway knownas the zaguan & from the zaguan one enters the patio.Mexican

LATE 19TH CENTURYCourtyard Housing in Los Angeles by Spanish Spanish Colonial Revival Marcel Breuer first conceived the idea ofseparating living and sleeping areas by use of courtyards.1.Macintosh, Duncan. 1973. The Modern Courtyard House. Architectural Association, London.MODERNdetached court house overlooking a garden on the south was built by Hugo Haring in 19281. (Frentzel house, 1928)This style was later adopted into an L-shaped plan by two Bauhaus architects, Hannes Meyer and Ludwig Hilberseimer. This L-shaped modification of the quadrangular court-house became popular in both Germany and England by the 1950s and 1960s.Fattoria Gutgarkau, di Hugo Haring, Lubecca 1924Though the basic courtyard form of dwelling is rectangular or cubic in shape, it may be round or curvilinear too. A block with a punctured hole in the middle as a breathing space within the confined box is the general courtyard type. However, this form may be and has been modified to adapt to the topography, site restrictions, building orientation and functions to create new formal shapes such as the L, U, H, T, V or Y.

INDIA AND INDIAN COURTYARD HOUSEScalled by various regional names:Haveli of Gujrat of northern India, Wada of Maharashtra,Deori of Hyderabad, Rajbari of Bengal and Nalukettu in Kerala.11.Noble, Allen G. Patterns and Relationships of Indian Houses. Asias Old Dwellings: Tradition, Resilience, and Change. Knapp, Ronald G. 2003. Oxford University Press.Generally, four oblong one-storey huts enclosing a square court is a common way of rural massing of housingdifferences in the urban and rural courtyard formAryan village community consisted of several families each with its own house (griha), cowshed and granary in its own compound on a courtyardThe first phase is associated with theMughal period between the 16th and early 18th centuries and the second phase,which is marked by the colonization of the subcontinent between the late 18th to 20thCenturies.22.Randhwa, T.S. The Indian Courtyard House. 1999. Prakash Books Pvt. Limited.

HAVELINorthern and north-western India (Gujarat, Rajasthan or Punjab) Rich interior and exterior wood carvings and decorations.Elongated but narrow in planDivided into three subpartsNext there is a room, called baithakFirst there is the roofed but open verandah in the front of the house facing the street.Then Inner house; courtyard has a series of rooms devoted to cooking, food preparation and water storageGujaratwindows are typically intricately designed bay windows or cradle windows with rich latticeworkunique characteristic inclusion of the swing-seat or hinchkoTypical interiors of a Gujrat Haveli showing richly carved wooden ceilingRainwater is also stored underneath the courtyard

Havelis in Rajasthanextensive use of locally available stone (sandstone, limestone, marble, etc)Enforced seclusion of women, solid stonewalls, and at the same time the need for admittance of sunlight, combined to favor the adoption of multiple alcoves (jharokha), balconies,porches, and oriel windows projecting from the faade. noise of the street is blocked by high wallsDay light penetration into the space increases creating an illusion of spaciousness.

Reflect the psychology of the society that built them which relied primarily on security and robustness to safeguard the familiesThe solid haveli gates, studded withnails, were bolted at dusk and were not opened till the morningHavelis is Punjab Typically the western section is more open to the exterior & predominantly a mens area or mardana, the eastern section which is carefullyset away from the entrance is the womens area or zenana.

WADAA form of residential architecture by theMarathas under the patronage of Peshwas, inclusion of courtyards with fountains, pools, terraces, pillared aisles, arches, latticed windows or balconiesSymmetry - important aspect.

Generally the wada rose to three or more floors.a series of family-oriented inner courtsExternal ornamentation minimal and restricted to carved Hindu deities (Ganesh or Lakshmi) Interiors are lavishly decorated with paintings and other embellishmentsa room dedicated for religious ceremonies or the corner have the image of the family deity.most wadas have a sitting platform or otlaBrahmin Maratha aristocracy most houses have one court in front to receive visitors or accommodate business and administrative activities

NALUKETTU / tarawadresidence form of Keralameans a single courtyard with four sides.compact structure sloping tiled roofs on all sides, protecting an interior and exterior verandah next to a bathing tank or kullam.decorated main entrance (see figure 2.8) on the east with a semi-private raised verandah with built-in platforms for visitors to sit on.strong Vastushastram principles of orientation, location and functions of rooms.did not have a segregated womens areaCharacteristically the religious residents include deities near the courtyard and in asmall temple, typically a serpent shrine or sarpu kavu, at the rear end of the house.

CHETTINADelongated and rectangular in shapeThe transparency allows uninterrupted views from front to the back door.The front door is accessed by steps leading through a two tiered verandah which is used for receiving guestsCovered verandah surrounds the main courtyard.Typical residence of Nattukottai Chettiars, mainly a banking and commerce based community

Behind the main structure there is a smaller court or kattu associated with the kitchen and cooking activities, therefore generally a womens domain.Small rooms surrounding the main courtyard are used by the heads of the sub-familiesMost of the upper storey is used for storage rooms except one room which is reserved for newly-wedsThe verandah closer to the rear end of the house is used for formal meals. This is also in two levels, the higher level being used by men and the lower one by women.

RAJBARIwealthy Begali babus/ Zamindars who were influenced by the Western architectural styles and tastes of the British built these mansions with a Western touch of classy furnitureand sculpture but retained the traditional inward courtyard form and puja room.pujamandap or thakurdalan (room for worship) on one side of the courtyard

Rustic Hut, Bangladesh

COURTYARD BENEFITS AND LIABILITIESPSYCHO-SOCIAL BENEFITSCULTURAL BENEFITSCLIMATIC BENEFITSACCESSIBILITY AND CIRCULATION BENEFITSSYMBOLICAL RELIGIOUS BENEFITSECONOMICAL BENEFITSLIABILITIES

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